Census forms coming to Houston mailboxes this week

Uncle Sam wants to hear from youAnd Houston has big bucks riding on everyone being counted in census

MOISES MENDOZA, HOUSTON CHRONICLE

Published 6:30 am, Sunday, March 14, 2010

Ready or not, here comes the census.

Forms, asking for your household's basic demographic data, should begin arriving in mailboxes across Houston this week. Completed questionnaires should be mailed back to the government by April 1.

Sound easy? It is, unless you don't send in the data, which is requested once every 10 years. U.S. Census Bureau workers, known as enumerators, will begin going door to door next month to collect information from homes that didn't return the forms.

Though the law says you must provide your information to the Census Bureau, city leaders are worried some Houstonians will be reluctant to participate — especially members of minority groups who often distrust government workers. They fret an inaccurate count could cost Houston millions of dollars in federal funding or leave the city underrepresented in Congress.

Angel, who has been in the United States for three years, said many people he knows are afraid census workers could pass information to immigration authorities.

Medina assured him that's not true — individuals' census data is kept confidential by law for at least 72 years.

“We need to know how many people are in our community,” Angel said in Spanish. “I'm going to take part.”

Dispelling rumors

Volunteer Juan Antonio Santos also preached about the importance of the census to concerned neighbors.

“It's important for the funding for community centers and for schools,” he said. “I tell people not to worry about it, to just fill out the form.”

Marisol Casares, a community developer with the nonprofit Neighborhood Centers, said community leaders are devoting time to dispelling false rumors about the census, including the rumor that census workers are fine immigrants who are undocumented.